What Are They?
Bumbly or otherwise. Bees and wasps are stinging insects (belonging to the Hymenoptera order if you really want to impress your friends) of varying color and size depending on where in the world you live. Bees collect pollen to feed their young while wasps will use other protein sources in the form of other insects.
While both are capable of inflicting a painful sting, bees avoid doing so since they usually can sting you only once whereas wasps are naturally more aggressive and will sting you multiple times.
Note: All hornets are wasps, but not all wasps are hornets, as hornets are actually a subset of the wasp family.
Bees are important! While we find bees often annoying, they are incredibly valuable as part of our ecosystem because they help provide pollen to plants which is required for them to grow.
If you are looking to get them removed by beekeepers to be re-homed rather than terminated, you can go to Humboldt County Beekeepers Association to get further information to get your bee problem resolved that way. They have a Swarm Removal Team who will come and remove them free of charge, given they are not within the walls of your home.
Which ones are local to Humboldt & Del Norte County?
- Yellow Faced Bumble Bee – These mostly black fuzzy insects typically make their nests in old gopher holes. They typically aren’t aggressive, but they can sting you multiple times if you are being mean.
- European Honey Bee – This species came to the West Coast in the mid-1800s to pollinate all the crops in the booming agriculture scene. While they’re beneficial to our gardens, it can be more than a little inconvenient if a colony decides to make their nest in your house.
- Yellowjackets – Some of the meanest wasps you’ll ever see. They typically make their nests in the ground but will sometimes opt for bushes or low branches. This means that the eaves of your house might be more attractive than you think.
- Carpenter Bee - There are two types of Carpenter bees: large & small. These particular bees are known for their wood boring holes that they leave behind. They do not actually eat wood, but simply create tunnels within the wood for nesting.
When Should I Worry about Them?
Bees and wasps are typically the most active during the spring and summer months. Typically speaking during the winter months these pests will often hibernate or simply die off.
How Do I Know if I Have an Infestation?
- Nests. If you see a bee or wasp nest around your home or yard, you have a problem on your hands. Nests are usually gray and papery orbs hanging from branches or ceilings and are typically easy to identify from the number of bee's or wasps present. They may or may not have open honeycomb structures. Additionally, a mature wasp nest may contain thousands of wasps, so we urge caution if ever near to one. That noted, we've seen some pretty weird stuff, such as bee's nesting within the inside of walls or even within the ceilings of homes.
- Bees/Wasps disappearing into the ground. If it ever seems like bees and wasps are disappearing and reappearing from the ground itself, that’s a good sign that you there’s an underground nest to worry about.
- An unusual number of insects. Bees and wasps will fly miles away from their nests in search of food, but if it ever seems like they are congregating around your home (and you don’t have a pollinator friendly garden), it might be time to call someone to check out what’s going on.
How Can I Prevent This?
Unfortunately, there’s no one way that will 100% prevent bees and wasps from nesting in your home and yard. Removing potential food sources, whether flowering plants or cleaning outdoor eating areas is a good place to start.
Can I Treat This Myself?
When Do I Need to Call Someone?
Regardless of whether you have a bee nest or a wasp nest in your house or yard, all species will defend their nests with their lives. If you find a nest we recommend calling a pest control specialist and let them deal with an otherwise dangerous and painful experience. It will save you a lot of time, money and pain in the long run.
Because of this we cannot recommend to anyone to try and tackle bee nest removal as a DIY project. While a visible nest may seem appealing to try and remove there are likely to be bee's surrounding it in other nests, which can remain hidden until the unsuspecting individual attempts to remove one, and the bee's come out in force to sting.
There are also over the counter chemical treatment solutions available. However, we always urge caution when it comes to attempting to eradicate a wasp/bee infestation or any other pest infestation by making use of chemicals. These chemicals, if not carefully controlled and applied with precision, can harm the health of the buildings occupants - I.E. your family.
How can we help?
At Humboldt Pest, we will provide you with a variety of solutions to effectively treat and remove any bee or wasp nests with minimal interruption into your life. Our team of professionals has access to specialized tools and equipment designed to protect them during the process of removing bee & wasp nests.
- Step 1: Identification – We will help find the bee or wasp nest and all of its entry points (there are often a lot in ground nests), and provide solutions & treatment options guaranteed to be effective.
- Step 2: Treatment – Our professional technicians will come to your home and safely remove the nest and its occupants to give you a stingless and worry-free home to enjoy. Our eradication methods make use of products and systems that ensure that your family will be protected.
- Step 3: Ongoing Prevention – We’ll make sure that you will always be able to enjoy your home and yard without any fear of swarming near you or your family. Our Quad-P service can provide you with the protection that you need to ensure your home and family can celebrate the rare Humboldt sun without bee's and wasps around your homes.
Remember! We offer a warranty on all of our services. If the pests come back, so do we. No extra charge. We are confident that the service we provide will keep bees & wasps away. So rest easy, we're on the job.